Southern Alps Explorer
Trip Overview
After take-off you will begin to see the vast tapestry that is the Canterbury Plains and in the distance your destination, the majestic Southern Alps. Your helicopter pilot will guide you along the beautiful braided Waimakariri River, over the dramatic gorge and past Castle Hill, a filming location of the first Narnia movie. From here you will pick up the route of the historic TranzAlpine railway through to the upper reaches of the river and into the epic Arthur’s Pass National Park.
Experience spectacular mountain scenery, then land on a nearby summit and breathe in the fresh alpine air as you capture those precious moments on camera.
Allow 2 hours (approx 1.5 hours flying). Minimum passenger numbers apply.
Trip Reviews
Cosydell11
Little chopper – big sky. Well worth it! Fantastic, first of many now. Learnt more than a thing or two on a beautiful July winters day. Instructions were easy to understand from Johnathon and landing over the rural areas a treat. I have the bug now!
Discover539131
Fantastic fun flying with Garden City Helicopters. Our Fantastic pilot Jono took us to Akaroa for a special day. Viewed the city, Brighton beach, Sumner, Port hills beautiful coast line and into Akaroa harbour. There were 6 of us and we all had good views. Thanks for a great day GCH. Awesome fun.
Smashley2013
A-maz-ing! This was a Christmas present from the hubby. The tour was perfect on a lovely day. Johnathan, our pilot had a great sense of humor and had heaps to tell us as he helped us pin point what we were seeing. Might be time to start saving for a picnic trip!
Falconface
Amazing Experience. Great flight. Saw lots of the Christchurch sites. Jordan was very informative, safety conscious, and made sure we were comfortable throughout the flight. Would highly recommend, especially for tourists.
Zuhal Genc
Amazing Experience! Had a pleasant experience seeing Christchurch from up above. Smooth flight. The scenery was amazinggg!!! Perfect weather. Our pilot did an excellent job on briefing us of the safety rules and history of Christchurch. I would definitely recommend Garden City Helipcopters as your scenic adventure. Thankyou!
Thehammerhead
Great way to experience piloting a helicopter. I had the amazing gift of a trial flight in a helicopter and could not have asked for a better experience than I had today at GCH. [The] wonderful instructor made the experience a fantastic one.
Steama47
Just amazing!! If you’re going to do anything helicopter related in NZ use garden city helicopters we just had a fantastic day with them and our pilot jhonno was fantastic. Just professional through and through. thanks again guys.
Rajiv M
Lovely scenic flight! We a family of 3 took a Christchurch scenic flight with Garden City Helicopters. We had wonderful views of the city, the Peninsula Bay and Southern Alps (from far). The flight was smooth during the entire journey and our Pilot Jordan gave a commentary briefing us of the places we flew over. While most people take flights over glaciers, I would not hesitate recommending a scenic flight over Christchurch which also has a lot to offer.
Miriam Reihana
We absolutely recommend GCH. You should be absolutely proud of yourselves, from start to finish the staff were so accommodating especially as we had our 7 month old grandson with us. Nothing was an issue and the experience was amazing, what a memorable adventure and we are planning on doing it again.
Elis Hacioglu Kurtic
I had a super nice experience from the first minute with warm welcoming to the last bye. The staff are so friendly and my pilot made my day! Thank you very much…
Eddie Simon
Today I went out on a Helicopter Trial Flight with Juliette and had the most amazing experience. Everyone and everything was just perfect. Everything was explained thoroughly and I was made to feel comfortable. My flight experience was brilliant and I got a chance to take over the controls briefly and take some awesome photos. I rate these guys 5 Stars. Thanks and I’ll be back.
Daniel Paget
Came in for a trial flight today and what a buzz with the awesome staff and the experience I totally recommend this to anyone it’s an amazing experience and totally worth doing. Thanks GCH I had a blast. Thanks Juliette what a trip.
Emma Rush
My partner absolutely enjoyed his own personal flying lesson in a Helicopter with the Garden City team. Brian was a great teacher. And we felt at home having a chat afterwards over a cuppa.
Hamish Wilson
Thanks to Juliet for taking me out for a hoon in IHC yesterday. Was an awesome experience and I have bit of learning to do on my behalf. Thinking if I start skipping meals I might be able to afford my fledgling addiction.
Liz Rea
Well a huge huge thanks to the team at GCH….we had an absolute blast of a ride with your team member Reagan yesterday over to Akaroa….mum was a bit nervous but he explained everything and made me feel better about it. What an amazing way to see our beautiful country. Totally recommend people to tick this one off on their bucket list…don’t wait like I did for years to do it! Thanks again.
AmandaP5343
An awesome experience! We flew Christchurch to Akaroa and back. Time for lunch and a quick walk-around in between flights. It was amazing. Highly recommend it. Still buzzing 2 weeks later!
JemmaW148
Amazing Friendly Experience. We flew from Christchurch to Akaroa and it was incredible, friendly staff, and such an amazing experience.
Paula Foxall
Great experience very informative wonderful scenery very Professional would definitely recommend them.
Glenn Sparrow
The team at Garden City have a Romantic Getaway package that I surprised my wife for her 40th Birthday with. The service from everyone at Garden City was exceptional and the pilot was very engaging. We were allowed to bring our son on the flight and everyone made him feel special. I wanted the trip to be a complete surprise for my wife, she still had no idea where we were going till we came into land at Clearwater ( which is part of the package). I would thoroughly recommend the trip.
Melissa Fenwick
Amazing flight up to Mt Herbert. My husband and I loved flying over our beautiful city and enjoying a glass of bubbly over looking the harbour. I would recommend to my friends and family!
Anita Twiss
Massive thanks to the GCH crew for an amazing experience this morning! They went above and beyond, making my parents 30th wedding anniversary one to remember. Fantastic service.
Trenna F
Amazing first flight in a helicopter yesterday on a cold but sunny southerly day to the Port Hills. Fantastic great pilot and wonderful service and lovely bottle of very chilled wine at the top! I would highly recommend this trip can’t wait to do it again!
Lisa M
Overwhelmed when thinking about our wonderful day. When we arrived at Garden City Helicopters we were greeted by the receptionist who was welcoming and genuinely friendly. We met our pilot Johnno who was definitely one of the highlights of our day. He was witty and made us feel at ease. We set off and although it was cloudy we managed to see the landscape and stunning colours of Autumn around Christchurch. On our return flight it was kind of sad to end….we had such an awesome time. Thanks Garden City Helicopters.
Rebekah Ritsma
Thanks guys for making my 50th birthday so special. Love my flight to the Pegasus Bay Winery the views were amazing as was our pilot she made the flight very special. Pegasus Bay winery just gorgeous wine, food and setting amazing.
Dreames2
Great view over Akaroa. Picked up from cruise ship Akaroa – by Christine – chauffer – to the top of hill and met by Martin the Pilot who confidently flew us above the Akaroa hillside and river – amazing views and good commentary.
ToTheGoodElf
We had the best day with [pilot] Ryan as we flew from a hill overlooking the water and our cruise ship to Pegasus Bay Vineyard. It was an amazing ride and landing in a vineyard in “our” helicopter wasn’t so bad. Lunch was amazing and then the return trip we got an aerial view of our cruise ship. It is safe to say we will never forget that day in our lives because it truly was one of the Best Days Ever!
J H H
Booked this through a cruise line during a stopover in Akaroa. What an amazing way to see the devastation of the city, it’s port city of Lyttleton and the spectacular coastline between Akaroa and Christchurch. Our trip included a jet boat excursion in Christchurch that was fun too – but the helicopter ride was just amazing. Would do it again in a flash!
Jodie Jellick
Thank you to the team at GCH for the incredible day you gave us today. So helpful in getting it organised for us, legend pilot and spectacular scenery. You guys rocked it. From Akaroa to over the Canterbury plains, to Rakaia River on a jet boat, a jaw-dropping flight through the southern alps to meet our ski plane and a coastal tour on the way home. You made our NZ trip unforgettable and got us back in plenty of time to reboard our ship.
RochelleG225
My mother and I did this tour as our Mother’s Day present and I can highly recommend it to others. Our pilot, Jordan, was fantastic and took it very easy as my mother is a bit of a nervous flyer. Seeing the city from the air and getting commentary from Jordan as we went was fantastic and valuable to both locals and visitors to Christchurch. We are already planning our next excursion.
Adam Richards
Awesome flight today with Jono our pilot. Great way to see the city and good fun entertainment provided with Jono’s commentary 🙂 cheers team
Ashleigh Hinton
A great flight over the city centre with my partner for our anniversary. Joni knew what he was talking about and made it lots more fun for the 20 minutes of flying!! Thanks so much. Have recommended already to many Friends! Well worth the cost.
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